Abstract

To the editors: We read with great interest the review by Tunkel and colleagues (1) on the pathophysiology and treatment of meningitis. We would like to draw your attention to our clinical work in Egypt on the use of dexamethasone in the treatment of meningitis in adults (2). In well-controlled studies in Cairo, we found that dexamethasone in combination with antibacterial therapy significantly reduced the overall mortality (P < 0.01) and the hearing loss (P < 0.05) in adult patients with pneumococcal meningitis (age range, 12 to 50 years). No serious side effects attributable to dexamethasone were seen in any